RojoBefore the Devil knows you're Dead
What is it that makes Phillip Seymour Hoffman so good? How does one man have so much talent? How can he become a character so entailed so deep that you can literally feel his pain and frustration. Well I have only one answer, Hoffman is a master actor, he is of the new school of master actors he is my generations De Niro he is, electrifying. In “Before the Devil knows you're Dead” Hoffman proves this in every scene, and every second of his screen time.
Hoffman and Hawk play brothers (poor casting in my opinion as I don’t believe for a second they could be related) that aside there story is one of shared pain, a story that has the audience squirming in their seats with the feeling of ‘what more can go wrong in their lives’. Both brother have their problems both problems come squarely back to money. (Who out their doesn’t have money woes?) But Andy (Hoffman) has a plan and enlisting his brother Hank (Hawk) to help him out begins a change of events that lead to a horrible outcome for a family that includes Albert Finney as the unfortunate father of the two. (Finney and Hoffman are brilliant together as they do look like father and son).
A small time heist that goes wrong. Not the most original story but then again what is these days? Director Sidney Lumet (Serpico, Running on Empty, Dog Day Afternoon) unfolds this bleak tale with a Pulp Fiction, The Killing style of over lapping time to show each individuals story and how it leads up to the heist and the abhorrent outcome from its failure.
I will pause here and give you all a FILM 101 lesson. The difference between story and plot. Story is everything that has happened before, everything that happen during, and what we are shown to be the out come. The plot of a film is what we are shown, simple.
Parts of a story don’t need to be shown because we the audience being equipped with thumbs and brains that allow us to come to our own conclusions don’t need to be shown every detail of a story only what is important. The important part we see is the plot.
To me 'Before the Devil know you're Dead' lacks in plot. Instead recapping over and over minor points that become nauseating and tacking on an extra 15 minutes of superfluous plot.
So an average movie over all but for fans of Hoffman, Hawk and heist not quiet a must see but one well worth a look. A well played part by Marisa Tomei a nice bonus but not enough to lift this film from the rank of par.
5/10
